Tea, the miracle drink originated in China and was declared a health drink 5000 years back, by Chinese Emperor, Chen Nungmore. While boiling water below a Tea tree, a leaf fell into his pot and the king found the drink refreshing. Chinese believe it to be Divine Healer. Tea has been known to the tribes of Assam for a long time, who are of the oriental stock and took Tea as a health drink. Local Tribal Singpho chief, Bisa Gaum helped C A Bruce in 1823, to discover Assam variety of Tea Plant 'Camelia Sinesis Var Assamica'. Assam tea is an Indian black tea, produced in the Assam region in Northern India. Most of the tea is grown by the Brahmaputra River. The Assam region is the world's largest tea growing area, with over 800 estates, and Assam tea is the world's most produced tea. While the Assam region has wild tea plants, these do not produce a palatable brew. Modern-day Assam tea is harvested from plants that are a hybrid of native Assam plants and Chinese tea plants. Though "Assam" generally denotes the distinctive black teas from Assam, the region produces relatively smaller quantities of green and white teas as well with their own distinctive characteristics.

Darjeeling is under West Bengal state and Gangtok is the capital of Sikkim. It takes about 4.5 hours to reach one place from the other by car.
Actually you can start with either place. If you visit Darjeeling first, then you can avoid some parts of the bad roads to Gangtok. There are some major road repair and widening work going on at the National Highway NH31A that leads to Gangtok. And from Bagdogra or NJP if you head straight for Gangtok, there is no way to avoid those sections of the road.
Now consider the return. Darjeeling is nearer to NJP railway station or Bagdogra airport than Gangtok. The usual drive time from Darjeeling to Njp/Bagdogra is 3.5 hours compared to 4.5 hours from Gangtok. Additionally since major repair work is going on at the national highway NH31A, sometimes you can get huge traffic jams while returning from Gangtok. It can throw your timings out of control and can sometimes get quite risky while trying to catch a train or flight. So you must start early.

The Dragon Trail – a tastefully crafted trekking tour package in North Eastern Himalayas near Darjeeling in West Bengal will take you to some of the highest Himalayan peaks in the region including Sandakphu, highest peak in the state of West Bengal.
Included in this thrilling summer tour package to the Himalan kingdom is visit to major attractions in Darjeeling like the gardens, temples and the mountaineering institute. Explore the nature at its best and take some of the lesser known trails in Himalayas with this 10 days adventure holiday package.
During this trekking tour package in the North East region of India in the state of West Bengal, also visit some of the significant Buddhist monasteries and temples along with the spectacular monuments and World Heritage Sites in Delhi.

Bordering China-Tibet, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Burma, the north-easternmost corner of India is an area little travelled by tourists. The area abounds with picturesque tea and rice plantations, some breathtaking mountain scenery and magnificent National Parks. Visits to Tibeto-Burman tribal villages and Buddhist Gompas offer a rare glimpse into an area vastly different from what we normally expect of India - in many ways this really is a different country. At Kaziranga National Park you will have a very good chance of seeing some of the 1800 one-horned rhinos which live there- this is about two thirds of the world's total rhinoceros population. Also enjoying stay in the famous tea gardens of Assam in the beautiful Chang bunglows.